Recording device.



E. S. VOTEY.

RECORDING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 14, 1912.

I 1,076,333- Patented Oct. 21, 1913.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDWIN S. VOTEY, OF SUIVIMIT, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR T AEOLIAN COMPANY, OF

NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF CONNECTICUT.

RECORDING DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

PatentedOct. 21, 1913.

Application filed March 14, m2. Serial 1%. 683,692.

of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements-in Recording Devices, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to new and'useful improvements in recording devices and the object of my invention ;is*to provide 'a new and improv'ed'device of this kind for automatically recording, in the form of perforations and slots cut in a strip of paper, correct representations of the sound produced in playing a piano while accompanyinga musical production produced on a phono graph or talking machine or otherwise, in exact accordance with the time, that is, the duration of and the intervals between the notes, so that the record thus produced can be used in a properly adjusted piano player for accompanying a phonograph or a talking machine.

In the accompanying drawings in which like letters of reference indicate like parts in 'all the figures: Figure 1 is a diagrammatic elevation of my new and improved record ing machine. Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic side view of the same, parts of the piano being shown.

The record sheet 1,' into which the record 7 of the piano playing is to be cut, is unrolled from the spool 2 and upon the spool 3, and passed over the slightly beveled or curved top of a die plate 41in the same manner that such a sheet is passed over the tracker board.

in a player piano or playing attachment the movement of the sheet beinga continuous one and at the same speed throughout. The spool 3 on which the sheet is Wound is driven by conventional gearing 4 such as is commonly used in playing attachments and this gearing is driven by means of a sprocket chain 5 from a sprocket wheel 6 on a shaft 7 driven by a pneumatic motor 8 such as commonly used in playing attachments and the air isexhausted from this motor 8 through a regulating bellows 9 into the air pumping mechanism 10 driven by a belt 11 and pulleys from an electric motor 12 or other suitable source of power. By means of a bcvcl cog Wheel 13 on the shaft 7 the bevel cog wheel 14 is rotatod'and by means of a clutch 15 of conventional construction, having a suitable adjusting handle 16, the shaft 17 supporting a rotative talkin machine disk support 18 can be rotated rom said cog wheel 14\an-'d thus the phonograph disk 19 can be rotated at such speed of rotaltionas to coincide with the speed of the longitudinal movements of the sheet of paper'on which the piano record is being out.

The talking Ina-chine diaphragm 20, con

nected with the stylusin conventional manner is connected with car pieces 22 such as are commonly used on talking machines whenv a horn is not desired and the sound is to be'conveyed directly torthe ear of the listener.

For each key of a pianoforte, the notes of which are to bra-recorded a suitably guided vertically reciprocating punch 23 is pro-- vided above the die plate 4 there being a corresponding opening in the die plate for each reciprocating punch 23 and each punch 23 is pivotally connected with the pivoted armature 24 ofa n jelectroimagnet 25, which electrmnagrret has one. terminal connected by a conductor 26 with one-terminal of a battery 27, the dthertermi-nai of the electro-- magnet being connected by a conductor .28 with one terminal of an electric interrupter or make and break apparatus 29 of any suitable construction, the other terminal of which is connected by a conductor 30 with a contact piece 31 locatedbeneath the free end of a steel spring 32 attached to the piano frame beneath each key and which spring 32 is connected by a conductor 34 with that terminalof the battery 27 0pp o' site the one with which theconductor 26 is connected. Whenever a key 33 is depressed sufiiciently to cause the striking of the correratus 29 and corresponding electromagnet is closed. Aslong as this circuit remains closed by the depressing of the key the armature 24 is vibrated with great rapidity and the corresponding punch pin 23 is forced with correspondmg rapidity through i the moving paper sheet 1, into the corresponding die aperture, thus making a perforation or slot corresponding to the length of time that the key remains depressed sulficiently to keep the circuit closed in the manner described. As soon as the circuit is broken by the removal of the pressure upon the piano key, the spring 36 acting on the armature 24 keeps the corresponding punch pin raised, thus permitting the paper to be moved lengthwise under said punch pin without any action of the punch pin upon the paper. Accordingly'as the keys of the piano remain depressed for a greater or less length of time, perforations or slots of greater or less length are cut by the punches in the sheet 1 corresponding to the notes relating to the keys depressed and when said punches are raised the paper will be moved to form blank spaces or bridges between the successive perforations of each longitudinal row, said blanks or bridges corresponding in length to the time intervals between the successive soundings of the same note.

It is to be understood that the paper and the phonograph record disk 19 are moved by the motor at the same ratio of speed throughout;

The operator or player inserts an ear.

piece 22' in his ears and as he hears the sounds produced by the phonograph record he plays the accompaniment upon the piano either manually or b means of a playing attachment and as t is accompaniment is being played a perfect and correct record of the same is cut into the sheet 1 which may be subsequently used as a master sheet for making copies of the same or which may be used as an original for playing the accompaniment to the piece on the phonograph or talking-machine record used or'a copy of the same.

Having described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is In a note recording machine the combination with a means for feeding a sheet of paper uninterruptedly, of a die plate over which said sheet is passed, punches cooperating with the die plate to perforate the sheet of paper passed over the die plate, an independent and individual electric means for operating each punch, an electric current interrupter for each individual electric punch operating device, an electric circuit closing device pertaining to each key of a key musical instrument, a source of electricity, an electric connection from said circuit closing device to the corresponding current interrupter, an electric connection from said current interrupter to the corresponding electric punch operating device, an electric conductor from the electric punch operating device to the source of electricity, and a conductor extending from the source of electricity to the circuit closing device pertaining to the key, substantially as set forth.

Signed at New York city, in the county of New York and State of New York this 17 day of Jany. A. D. 1912.

' EDWIN S. VOTEY.

Witnesses:

D. C. Hams, E. C. THOMPSON. 

